A relational database system is a collection of data items organized as a set of formally described tables from which data can be accessed. These relational databases can become very large, and the response to any query of these databases may require accessing a multitude of databases, each of which may be partially responsive to the query.
Many relational databases, such as in social networks, grow rapidly as data changes with respect to participants and their various natures, features, qualities, and the like. Such a network may be represented by a massive graph, where nodes are connected by edges to other nodes, and both the nodes and edges represent associated relational data.
Previously, the searching of these graphs has been laborious, time consuming, and inordinately and exhaustively detailed, requiring the individual treatment and assessment of each of a multiplicity of nodes and edges. Thus, there is a need for a more effective, efficient, and inexpensive structure, technique, and methodology for undertaking a query in such graphs and networks, such as a computation of the shortest path between nodes.